13-SEPTEMBER-2012
NATIONAL TEAM TO COUNTERACT
FAVOURITISM OF BELARUS
 

Tomorrow the Senior Men National Team will begin disputing the 2nd tournament of Pool A for the 2013 European Championship qualifying 2nd round, in Ankara, Turkey.

The first opponent is Belarus, undefeated leader of Pool A. The match is scheduled for 16h00 (local time) and referring this event will be Mr. Alin Mateizer (Romania) and Mr. Eldar Zulfugarov (Azerbaijan). The match can be followed through live score.

Hugo Silva, National Team Assistant Coach, makes a brief analysis of their opponents:
“This poll is very balanced as showed in the 1st tournament (Vila do Conde). Even Great Britain, which we could consider being the less powerful opponent, delivered good performances, which could be explained by the experience they had in the 2012 London Olympics. Belarus is not really a surprise as we were aware to the team’s potential. They have the advantage of playing all for the same team (Stroitel of Minsk) in the Russian League, except one athlete which plays in Poland. This is a huge advantage because they know each other very well”.

Having a flashback from the 1st tournament in the Sports Hall of Vila do Conde:
“In the Great Britain and Belarus matches we were below our level. Against Turkey we played a little better and we saw what we can achieve playing our best game. Turkey was upset by losing their outside hitter due to an injury (fractured nose), but certainly he will return now and the team will be more balanced and more complicated to deal with. We expect balanced matches. The winner of Pool A may be already defined but the struggle for the second place will be very interesting.

What will be the National Team’s attitude towards these matches?
“The players should maintain their calm and discernment, and most important, they should perform in the court how they usually do in the training ground. The team’s quality in training is not the one we have been seeing in the matches. I believe this is due to the inexperience of most players, especially those who have a more important role in the team”, concluded.

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